Ravens want Boldin to take $2 million pay cut

According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens want Boldin to take a $2 million pay cut.

Boldin is due to earn $6 million, with a cap number of $7.531 million.

Per Wilson, the Ravens were close to cutting Boldin on Friday; it was so close to happening that the player had prepared a statement thanking the fans for their support. But now that it has become more and more apparent that Boldin will change course from his proclamation to Pro Football Talk that he’ll play for the Ravens or no one, the Ravens have pushed back from the brink.

For now.

Still, it’s unclear how much the Ravens will pay. The team clearly believes $6 million is too much. The question is whether and to what extent Boldin will take a reduction.

The best outcome could be a mutual face-saving, in which Boldin decreases his base salary and can make back the difference via playing time and/or performance.Either way, it’s now clear that Boldin will be playing football in 2013. The question is whether it will be for the Ravens or someone else.

But who will catch Flacco’s bombs? Defenses may opt to cover Jones once in a while

thesmartest1 says:Mar 10, 2013 4:38 PM

The ugly side of Pro Football shows it’s face once again. Do everything right and….

MTLighthouse69 says:Mar 10, 2013 4:38 PM

I think that some of these dudes are going to get a rude awakening if/when they hit the marketplace. The money just might not be there for them. They just might end up back with the teams they left taking less than if they had just signed a contract before they left.

effjohntaylornorelation says:Mar 10, 2013 4:38 PM

He’s a great player who can surely earn more than what e Ravens are offering. I hope he finds access elsewhere because Baltimore doesn’t seem to appreciate what they have in him.

tonyc920 says:Mar 10, 2013 4:39 PM

Anquan, Aaron Rodgers wants to throw you some passes, and you won’t have to make acrobatic catches cause he’s deadly accurate unlike Flacco who you made look good.
Green Bay is wonderful in summer and fall.
Hey Ted, cut Finley, sign Bolden !

These guys sacrifice their bodies to entertain Billions of people, and ultimately win the Super Bowl. Boldin definitely contributed to their SB run and for them to ask to take a pay cut? Might as well spit in his face.

mswravens says:Mar 10, 2013 4:42 PM

More sloppy BS “reporting”…where has Boldin said he will play elsewhere? He hasnt. He said he’d have to pray on it with his family to figure his next step if he gets cut. PFT…ad lousy as everyone they criticize!

Who is Joe going to pass the ball to now? Smith can only go deep so many times a game and even though the tight ends are very talented, they aren’t go to guys for the duration of a season. I would fully expect Joe Flacco’s probowless streak to continue this season.

wrenches2pipes says:Mar 10, 2013 4:48 PM

So that’s the decision of the”greatest front office in the NFL”. ratinator must be very confused.

From Bolden’s perspective, it only take a team willing to sign him for 2yrs, $5 mil SB and base salaries of $2 mil each yr (for example) for it to make sense for him to come out ahead on the open market. And there are plenty of WR needy teams out there. The Ravens leverage to get him to accept less extends as far as Bolden’s agent has doubt he can get a contract like that.

seanx40 says:Mar 10, 2013 4:55 PM

Did I miss something during the Ravens playoff run? I swear that Boldin caught every damn thing thrown to him. Every time it mattered, Boldin came up big. Why would they possibly give that up?

jaxdolfan says:Mar 10, 2013 5:00 PM

Trade him to the dolphins for a player worth $4 million a year. Pick any one.

It’s also now clear (and has been for quite some time) that everyone outside of the Ravens’ fan base would love to see Boldin, or any other marque player in the NFL, play for someone other than the Ravens. I wonder how popular Boldin would’ve been this post season and the last four years in general if he had been, let’s say, a Patriot? Or if Flacco was a Cowboy?? My goodness, salivating media people everywhere.

Too bad we are the most well run organization in sports, and chances are we keep Boldin, or replace him with a talented young WR.

I thought the Ravens were in the business of paying players way more than they’re worth? Boldin should tell them to kick rocks. If he gets cut, someone will pay him that. And his new team will probably have a better shot to win the Super Bowl now that Flacco forced everyone out.

TSizzleBallSoHard says:Mar 10, 2013 5:04 PM

Just give him an extension that reduces his number! Our WR corps is crap without Boldin! There’s is no one that can replace him on our roster or in the draft that we have a chance of getting.

Well Boldin opened this door through his previous comments. It gave the Ravens a perfect opportunity to nickel and dime him while only having a low chance but liveable outcome should he decide to cut bait. The Ravens are just making a poker play, and a well calculated one that is priced at the right spot.

Boldin is now out of position and at a personal disadvantage from not utilizing proper foresight here. I hope his agent at least helped him figure all of this out before he made those missteps, otherwise Boldin should fire his agent for not working hard and responsibly towards keeping Boldin in an optimal position.

I’ll hand it to flacco telling boldin to stay tough and not give in to management. Boldin made so many big plays this season after I thought he looked done. I imagine he’ll stay in Baltimore and see what happens

Let me get this straight, the Ravens think that is paying too much for Boldin, but gave Flacco the biggest contract ever? As a Colts fan, I watched Boldin come out and completely destroy the Colts defense. The same when they went up against the 49ers. There is no Superbowl win WITHOUT BOLDIN!! Pay the man and win some more. Don’t pay the man and risk watching Flacco throwing it up in the air and NO ONE catching it. Boldin was open even when he was covered.

Yup, money gets tight for everyone else when you commit close to 20% of your salary cap to a somewhat better than average QB.

runrickyrun34 says:Mar 10, 2013 5:55 PM

I’m not sure why people are shocked about this. And if your team is cap strapped with needs, a 33 year old WR with a $7+ million cap number is going to be the first out the door despite performance. I would bet there are few teams that would take that cap hit. And there’s a lot of money tied into players like Suggs and Ngata that they can’t get out of right now. We’d love to see him stay in Baltimore but I don’t begrudge him if he opts to move on. The risk is that he makes less than the Ravens would offer in a paycut. Ultimately, I think a deal gets done at some point even if he’s cut and tests the market.

runrickyrun34 says:Mar 10, 2013 6:00 PM

And the comments about Joe and his cap hit, it’s $6.8 million and less than Boldin’s. It’s hard to see where the comparison of cap numbers here has anything to do with Boldin’s higher cap number. And QB’s always make more than anyone on the field. Saying a WR should make more than a QB is stupid unless you’re Jerry Rice.

everybody in the world needs to shut up. flacco accounts for 6 million against the cap This year. It has nothing to do with him. Suggs and ngata take up 24 million. people please get your story straight for all morons and I hate you all

I see a lot of Ravens fans getting negged for valid points. When the truth is, people hate on the Ravens because they are one of the finest organizations in the league. 5 straight playoff appearances, 3 AFC championship appearances, and now are the reigning and defending superbowl champs. Boldin will be a Raven unless the Front office knows that there is a worthy replacement.

I thought Baltimore was a well run organization…to hear some tell it…the best in football? Soooo to solidify their legendary front office status…they grossly overpay Joe Flacco and publicly insult the real superbowl MVP? I have no dog in this fight. I’m a Raider fan living in New England. This, I can promise you. New England is playing a little high stakes game of poker of their own with Wes Welker and seemingly willing to part ways with Brandon Lloyd. Now that makes sense to me. Boldin solves both of those problems in one player…and apparently they will be able to pluck him from their toughest conference rival and add him to their roster for a very Patriot friendly price. Baltimore is making the decision too easy for both of them. Patriots ensure Baltimore endures the fabled super bowl hangover…and Boldin gets another shot at a ring next year. The Ravens front office looks very ungrateful and very stupid today in my opinion. Not hating…but it’s obvious.

annes22 says:Mar 10, 2013 6:34 PM

Flacco is getting too much. Boldin helped win that Super Bowl bigtime, and deserves to be paid. Who is going to catch Flacco’s moon balls next season with Boldin gone?? Jiggy3198 we don’t care if you hate us all, carry on being stupid.

neepo13 says:Mar 10, 2013 6:40 PM

The Ravens don’t play hardball like this with players unless they have a good grasp on what they can get elsewhere. They got Flacco’s deal done so quickly because they knew a cap rich team like the Browns could and maybe would pay more. If the Ravens are asking him to lower his cap number to a little more than 5 million, chances are that is in line with what he will get on the open market.

Perhaps this is some hard ball negotiating by the Ravens but we all know what we saw late last season. Boldin was the freakin’ man. He even made Flacco look good and that’s saying something.
Ravens should have given Boldin his money and told Flacco to give up some coin.

Lol there is a reason that Baltimore has so much success and so many pathetic teams are in the basement every year with their fans wanting to bottom feed off of the ravens players. The ravens will be fine, right in the mix for the playoffs, while the loser teams with cap room will overpay for guys like Kruger who look good in the ravens system.

so sick of reading about how the flacco contract is responsible for this. his cap number is 6.8 million this year. and clearly the ravens want to keep boldin or else they would have cut him. if they work out a deal to keep him at a reducaed nmber they look great. if they cut him trust me…there is a plan b. they know what they are doing. they have been the most consistent franchise in the league the last 5 years and that will continue because they know how to manage their cap. go ravens!

I guess without Boldin, Flacco and his new contract will be throwing numerous complete passes to the other team(Can you say INTERCEPTIONS).

tarkenton2white says:Mar 10, 2013 9:22 PM

You don’t pay a guy based on what he has done, you pay him for what he means to the franchise in the future.

I would guess that Harbaugh&co. know Boldin’s value, relative to other available players, better than all the living room critics. They apparently view him coming back at $4mil as a strategic advantage, at $6mil a net loss.

If you’ve watched more than the last four Ravens games, you can understand their point.

What I find interesting is when a player clearly outperforms his contract and wants more money, everyone is slamming the guy saying you signed the contract now play. However, no one blinks at all these teams that signed contracts but now want players to take pay cuts. If a team can cut a players pay then why is it not okay for a player to want more money when they out perform their contract?

First, I cannot believe the number of people who think this is because of Flacco’s contract (He’s cap number is $6.8 Million this year)… Next, the ravens havent done anything yet.
Before everyone starts saying their team should sign him, he has to be released. Ever since Boldlin made the comment about not playing anywhere else, the Ravens were pretty much obligated to kick the tires and see if they could get Q for less. He didn’t bite, and will end up playing out his contract in Baltimore.